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Thursday, February 26, 2009

LOST: Season 5 Episode 7 - The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

Well, my fellow LOSTIES, there's only one word I can think of to describe the most anticipated episode of Season 5, one we've anticipated ever since we got the name of it back in the fall of 2008. That word would be.......wait for it....... WOW!!!!!! Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I say that about every episode. But, I think you all would be upset if I stopped doing it. So consider it my ongoing trademark! The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham accomplished exactly what it set out to do. But it didn't stop there! We kinda assumed Locke would hit roadblocks on his off-Island journey. But we didn't know who he might run into, the information that would be divulged on his venture. Oh, and the way they kept the ISLAND as part of the episode was simply fantastic. I must agree that the producers picked the right order for these 2 episodes (316 and The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham were written simultaneously and supposedly could air in either order). I'm excited to see where this story goes from here. But before we begin speculating, we must recap what we learned in this fabulous episode! Here goes nothing!

When we last left Locke (alive), we saw him turn the crazy "unfrozen" donkey wheel which transported himself off the Island. The last time we saw Locke in the PRESENT DAY (Oceanic 6 timeline) was in a coffin being prepared to board Ajira Flight 316 - Destination ISLAND! Last week, we only saw Jack, Kate and Hurley return to the Island in what appeared to be in the DHARMA Past where they ran into Jin in a DHARMA Jumpsuit. DUM DUM DUMMMMMMM! (Don't worry, we'll get to them at a later date!) How about everyone else? Where/When did THEY end up? Let's dive in and find out!

The Island

We are fooled for a minute or two with our new characters Caesar and Ilana. (introduced on Flight 316 briefly last week. Caesar expressed condolences to Jack about his friend's (Locke's) death and Ilana had Sayid in custody) Caesar was looking around someone's office, finding maps of the Island and Guns and Flashlights. But it is not long before we find out that this is after Flight 316 left Los Angeles and we're back in Island territory!

Caesar finds a page from Daniel Faraday's journal and the map of the Island he had in season 4. Also found with these pages is Rousseau's Map of the Island which Sayid snatched from her in season 1 and used in season 2 for his boating expedition around the Island. (I can't take credit for these observations. It's all Sledgeweb) Somehow all of these materials end up at the Hydra Station at some point in time. (AKA the smaller Island next to THE Island and what I like to call Alcatraz 2.0!) We'll get to that in a second. Have we seen Daniel's drawing below before? Could these be the unique pockets of energy that his mother explained to Jack, Ben, Desmond and Sun?

Caesar quickly flips through an old Life Magazine from 1954 that has a H-Bomb explosion on the cover. Perhaps Richard grabbed a copy during his travels to see the birth of John Locke? I'm sure in the vast spectrum of answers we're looking to get, this falls at the bottom of the priority list! Just a little Easter Egg in the show. For all we know, the OTHERS or someone was doing research on their 1954 visitors.

Also when he's flipping through the magazine we get a quick snippet from what appears to the "The Creature from the Black Lagoon." Don't know much about the story, but with an expedition team sent to the Amazon Jungle and monsters killing people and stuff, you could probably make some ties to LOST!

Caesar finds a gun while he's looking around. When Ilana comes into the office, he doesn't show it to her. He gives her the flashlight instead. This dude just looks like he's there for maniacal reasons (which, it's tough to know if we should stay under that impression. We used to think JIN was a bad dude afterall!) But something at least to keep in the back of your mind. Why did he take the gun?

Ilana informs Caesar that they found a man standing in the water and that he wasn't on the plane. Caesar makes reference to people that "disappeared" but we'll get more into that later.

They then pass by the Ajira plane which appears to have veered off of a "RUNWAY!" Man, I love it when our speculation turns out to be dead on! Here's a refresher. When Sawyer and Kate were kidnapped by The Others and lived in cages for the grueling first 6 episodes of season 3, they were put to work breaking rocks. At the end of season 3, Sawyer asks Juliet what they were building anyway. Juliet says "a runway." She jokes "for the aliens" but we knew it would come in handy at some point. Perhaps Future Locke or Jacob (unless it's the same thing) instructs Ben or Richard or someone to begin construction of this runway because they knew they were going to need it to land this plane? And way to go Frank Lapidus on another excellent landing on/near the Island!

Anyway, it is revealed that this man that was standing in the water is none other than John Locke! REBORN! Okay, so he is resurrected. This show has officially crossed into some new territory. First we had ghosts which could've been dismissed as visions or apparitions of the smoke monster. This season we have time traveling LOSTIES and Resurrecting Losties! But before we get too crazy. IS he alive again? Or is he the same kind of "ALIVE" as Christian Shephard, who SEEMS very much alive. He held Aaron but also disappeared when Jack got too close to him. And he "appeared" OFF-Island to Jack too and disappeared. It would seem to me that everyone is seeing Locke and able to interact with him. And come on...Locke ate a mango and loved it! There is something NEW going on here.

The next morning Ilana talks to Locke (you know..the Mango eating scene!) and John stares at his beloved Island. This is where we can confirm we're on the Hydra Island. Locke is very up-front with them that he is confused to how he ended up there.

We see 2 Canoes on the beach and Locke asks Ilana if they are theirs. She said that they were already on the island. And that there used to be 3. The pilot and a woman took off in the middle of the night. (hmmmm Frank and Sun?)

Okay, so it's confirmed. Some people are in the present day from Flight 316, and others ended up in the DHARMA Past. I'm surprised that in the poll on the site, the majority assumed they'd be in the same time period! So did they really separate Sun and Jin through time? I guess that would make sense to still create some drama about them reuniting. Not sure I can think of what OTHER woman would just hop on a boat with Frank Lapidus, unless it's one of the flight attendants!

I guess we can also assume these boats were the OTHERS' boats? Which I'm not sure why Juliet wouldn't recognize them unless because it was 3 years in the future. And that these new castaways were the ones shooting at our original castaways a few episodes back. I'm sure we will see this all play out!

Another note, it seems like a day or 2 have passed before Locke showed up in the water. I guess you could make more Christian ties to this with the 3 days before the resurrection. But, I'd kinda like to know where he has been and what happened to him!

Anyway, Locke says he remembers a lot of things, but doesn't remember the plane. And explains that the suit he was wearing (along with Christian's shoes that are on the beach now) was probably what he was intended to be buried in. He told Ilana that he remembered dying. CUE FLASHBACK!

The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

TunisiaWe learn that Locke ends up in the same exact location that Ben did a couple years back. Except, Locke traveled 3 years into the future when Ben only traveled about 10 months. From Locke's perspective, it was only really a 4-6 since Ben left. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Locke shows up laying on the ground and still in much pain from the bone sticking out of his knee! He cries out for help for a long time. Night falls, and finally a pickup truck runs right up to him.

We see very familiar Middle-Eastern folk come and get Locke and put him in a truck.

We should also note that there was a camera planted there pointing right at Locke's location. (hmmm, was that there when Ben ended up there too? I don't think so)

Locke is rushed to some kind of medical facility. We see Matthew Abbadon there watching over the whole scene. A doctor resets Locke's leg. Locke passes out. Very suspenseful stuff and very painful to watch!

But the meat of this story happens after Locke wakes up. Who is there to great him but none other than Charles Widmore! Widmore explains that he had a specialist flown in to reset his leg properly.

"It's nice to see you again John" Widmore hasn't seen Locke since 1954 on the Island. (when Widmore was 17) And he is amazed that it's only been about 4 days from Locke's perspective.

Locke doesn't seem to recognize Widmore even though he saw Ben's video of him last season. Oh well, we'll let it slide!

We find out that the camera was planted by Widmore because he knew that was the "EXIT" from the Island. Interesting using the term Exit, and I'm sure much can be theorized on it. But I'm going to keep going!

So here's the big question, OLD Widmore remembers his encounter with Locke in 1954, but WHEN did he remember it? We'll discuss later in this recap that plans were set in action in order to bring Locke to the Island. Was this because he already knew he had to go there? Or did Charles just suddenly get the memory 4 days ago, which is why he planted the camera in the desert? We know Desmond didn't remember his encounter with Faraday in the past until it happened from Faraday's perspective. Same with the reverse when Desmond went to talk to Dan at Oxford in 1996. But we also know that Desmond is "uniquely special" so who knows??? Ugh, even in an episode with barely any time travel I still can't get my head around it all!

Charles explains that he was afraid Ben might fool Locke into leaving the Island. He claims that Ben exiled Widmore after he was leader of the others for over 30 years (he called them "his people"). They had a reign of peace for 30 years he claims. By the way, I sooooooo called that Widmore was the leader of the others at one point! Not that anyone will remember that I did, and I'm too lazy to reference the old blog post!

Here's the thing though, I assumed that Widmore was the one that ordered the DHARMA Purge, since Ben was not the leader yet. Or was that right around when Ben fooled Charles into turning that wheel? I don't think Widmore was the LEADER at 17 on the Island. The purge happened in 1992-1993 (since Goodspeed mentions he was dead for 12 years to Locke in a dream). So 30 years before that would be 1962/1963ish. Widmore would be in his 20's. Hmmm wait a second...maybe Penny was born on the Island too? Who is her mother!!? Here's where we speculate again that maybe Charles and Eloise were an ITEM on the Island. And that perhaps Dan and Penny are siblings separated at birth. Interesting theory. I thought I found plot holes in it before, but I can't think of them right now!

Widmore explains that the C4 and the freighter were all ploys to get rid of Ben and clear the way for Locke to lead on the Island. Great things are expected of him.

Locke explains how he needs to bring the people that left back. And Widmore offers his help. He also claims that he is watching over all of the Oceanic 6. So now both Ben AND Widmore were keeping tabs on them. So I wonder which one behind attacking Sayid and Hurley? That didn't happen until Locke died. And since we know how Locke died now (getting there) that might add some weight to things.

Widmore explains that it is necessary for John to be back on the Island (he may have been referring to them all). Locke also mentions to Widmore that Richard told him he was going to die. Widmore promises that he won't let that happen. A War is coming, and the wrong side will win if he's not there. Woa....is it a Ben vs. Charles war? Or something else entirely?

It is important to note that everyone Ben, Charles, Richard keep telling Locke how special he is. I really hope all this "SPECIAL" talk pays off in the end! We all knew that Neo was The Chosen One expected for great things in The Matrix. But then....the 2 sequels happened!

I'm getting sidetracked. SOMEONE is lying right? Ben or Widmore. They both present very convincing cases. Even with the fake flight 815 plane crash both cases are convincing. Maybe BOTH of them are lying. Here's where I get a little confused with Widmore's story. He claims that he thinks Ben may have convinced Locke to turn the wheel. Yet Widmore has SEEN Ben off of the Island. Ben came to visit him in October of 2005 claiming he's going to kill Penny. So would Widmore really have assumed that Ben returned to the Island since then? Ahh interesting stuff but we can only speculate for now.

We should also note that with the "EXIT" being in Tunisia, we can assume that Ben has left the Island via Donkey Wheel before which explains why Ben had stayed at the hotel in Tunisia before. This may explain all of the passports and foreign currency. Hmmm, so if he's left before I guess that means he has been able to get back before too. But Widmore knows Ben is after his daughter and wouldn't return to the Island until that job was done. (or attempted to be done!) Have I mentioned I'm still confused?!

Later on we find out Widmore is the one that supplied Locke with the name Jeremy Bentham an English philosopher. It was a good time when he mentioned John Locke's parents had a sense of humor naming him, so why couldn't he too!

Okay, so the passport says he is Canadian but born in New York. I almost just cried fowl on the producers because I didn't see the New York piece! We knew that the obituary mentioned New York. So job well done writers!

Big reveal here also. Matthew Abbadon is an employee of Charles Widmore! Which makes sense since we saw him giving the tasks to the Freighter 4 last season. I guess we still had speculations to whether those 4 were tied to the Mercenaries (Keamy and crew). Well, now we know it was all funded by Widmore.

We also know that Locke and Abbadon met in the past but Locke pretends to not know him at this point. Abbadon is going to "get Locke to wherever he needs to go." And he supplies a Wheelchair. ouch. Sorry Locke!

Widmore supplies the known whereabouts of all the people that left the Island and they are off to the airport. Also an emergency cell phone that if you dial 2, 3 (23!) Locke can contact him. First up....Santo Domingo and Sayid!

Abbadon claims he can find anyone for Locke that he wants to find (past family members, etc...). Locke ignores him for now and just tells him to drive.

Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)

Sayid seems to be working for a Habitat for Humanity type project (called "Build Our World). It looks like he is helping build a school. He seems to be REPENTING for past sins.

Locke comes to visit him in wheelchair and all.

Sayid is not sold on Locke convincing him to go back. He explains for 2 years he was manipulated by Ben into believing he was protecting everyone on the Island. He asks who is manipulating John. John claims no one, but I guess we just don't know!

Sayid explains that only because she left the Island was he able to find his true love Nadia and be with her for the best 9 months of his life. Alas, she died. (I guess we can note here that John Locke also ran into Nadia back in a season 2 flashback when he was servicing her cable or something like that. It's how we knew she was still alive at the time and in Los Angeles)

Sayid mentions Nadia was murdered and then asks why Locke really needs to go back. Is it because he has nowhere else to go? (the Locke being Lonely concept seems to become a common theme before the climatic scene of the episode)

Locke explains to Sayid that if he changes his mind he is staying in L.A. as Jeremy Bentham in L.A. at the Westerfield Hotel.

New York City

Locke and Abbadon are parked outside of a School waiting for WAAAAAAAAAALT! Locke mentions that he wants Abbadon to find his old squeeze Helen Norwood.

Walt comes out of the school. Abbadon says "So that's Michael Dawson's son? The boy has gotten big!" clearly indicating that he's been keeping tabs on these people for some time!

Walt knew that Locke was in a wheelchair before but he asks what happened. Locke just mentions he hurt his leg.

Walt says he's been having dreams about Locke. He was on the Island, wearing a suit and there were people all around him. They wanted to hurt him. Hmmmm our Ajira folk?

This makes me think, what if Walt dreamed about Locke the day he was shot by Ben which is how he appeared to him and appeared to be older? Same with when he appeared to Shannon and Sayid in season 2? We know Walt has some crazy telekenetic ability, maybe it's through dreams too or something? Eh, still too open ended right now but thought I'd throw that out there!

Walt asks about his Dad. If he's at the Island. He hasn't talked to him in 3 years. Locke just says last he heard Michael was on a freighter near the Island. I guess he didn't have the heart to tell him that he died. And then didn't have the heart to ask him to come back to the Island.

Locke changes his mind and just tells him he stopped by to make sure he was okay. Note that he never mentioned the name Jeremy Bentham, but Walt told Hurley that Jeremy Bentham came to see him. I guess I shouldn't look much into it, but come on!

Abbadon tells Locke he's 0 for 2 and starts taunting Locke about failing his mission. Locke claims Walt has been through enough.

Locke says he only needs to convince one and if he can do that, the rest will come. I'll bet he never thought Jack would be that one!

We also note here that creepy Ben is watching them. uh oh!

Santa Rosa, California

Locke next visits Hurley.

Hurley is drawing a picture of what appears to be the Sphinx. Look into it as much as you want. Locke was in the desert, Hurley is drawing the desert. Eh, this isn't Heroes! I'd like to think Hurley isn't a Pre-Cog or whatever they call Isaac the Painter and his subsequent future painters!

Hurley thinks Locke is a ghost because he's been visited by many of them. He figures Locke didn't make it on the Island. He then asks around if he is talking to anyone. Funny that he asked because one of the crazies pointed right at Charlie last season! But he then believed Locke was alive.

Locke fails at convincing Hurley pretty much because Hurley saw Abbadon and recognized him as the Oceanic Guy that asked if there were any other survivors. He said that the man is evil! (well yeah...his last name encompases the very root of evil!)

Abbadon ups the tally to 3 failed visits. And he finally breaks the tension around their pre-Island meeting. Abbadon is the man that pushed Locke around in the rehab facility in the wheel chair and told him to go on a Walkabout. It was Abbadon who got Locke on flight 815. "I help people get to where they need to get to."

So did Widmore know where flight 815 was going? I had a theory way back in season 1 that everyone on that Island was recruited for some purpose on the Island. Maybe not everyone, but at least the ones we came to know over the seasons. Was Widmore behind getting those people on the plane? Crazy crazy stuff. More to come I'm sure on this!

Los Angeles, CA

Ahh the most EXCITING trip of the episode (sarcasm). Locke visits Kate.

Kate essentially asks Locke about his love life and says he has no one which is why he never wanted to leave the Island. Locke talks about Helen but then how he ruined the relationship because he was angry and obsessive (good ol' Daddy issues!) Kate makes it worse by telling Locke he really hasn't come far from then!

Kate is a no go!

Locke asks Abbadon about Helen again. And while Abbadon was reluctant he takes him to her.

Santa Monica, CA

We arrive at a cemetary. Helen died of a brain aneurysm on April 8, 2006. (April = 4, and 8 are numbers naturally!)

Abbadon starts talking about fate and how her path ended here and how Locke's path leads back to the Island. Locke begins to even doubt fate asking how he can say it like it's inevitable. Abbadon mentions that Richard says Locke is going to die, is that really a choice?

Hmm, so that reminds me. I wonder if resurrected Locke in the future tells Richard what happens and THAT version of Richard is the one that runs into Locke from the past and tells him that he has to die? That would make sense since Richard knows the Oceanic 6 are alive off of the Island at the time too. I guess we already figured this one out, but worth bringing up again!

Just as Locke and Abbadon are getting ready to depart the cemetary, Abbadon is shot and killed. (farewell Matthew, now you can go be on FRINGE full time! Love that show by the way!)

Locke races off in the car and gets slammed in an intersection by 2 cars. Ouch!

Hospital

No fear, when Locke wakes up he has a visitor waiting for HIM! It's bearded Jack! (but we must note the beard is not as crazy as it gets. A period of time must pass between this scene and the Hotel scene.

Jack asks what Locke is doing here. Locke says that they have to go back and that the people he left behind need their help (never says that terrible things happened after they left as Jack tells Ben. ugh....why can't they just stick to the script sometimes?!)

Jack is not buying it. It's more of this DESTINY/FATE talk from Locke. Locke has renewed faith in seeing Jack. He was brought to Jack's hospital, they were supposed to have this encounter. Jack says it's probability not fate and based on where the accident was.

Locke says it was no accident, someone is trying to kill him. (Jack assumed Locke was murdered probably by this comment. I guess his assumption wasn't very wrong!) Locke says that they don't want him to succeed. They don't want him to get back because he is important.

Jack puts the final nail in the coffin on lonliness. Tells Locke that his delusions of being special and important are not real. Maybe he is just a lonely old man that crashed on an Island. I still don't get why Locke would never tell anyone that he was paralyzed. Maybe they wouldn't believe him? I dunno. Rose saw him in a wheelchair! He finally told Sawyer, but naturally everyone was too busy for him to ever tell anyone else. Just another example of no one telling people information on LOST!

As Jack is leaving, Locke uses his last remaining card (other than the wheelchair one!). Your father says hello! I'll give myself a pat on the back on this one too. Locke was able to deduce by who left the Island that Christian was talking about Jack because Hurley and Sayid didn't fit the ethnic profiling! (I know, not very impressive, but you should see some of the theories that went on in the comments of a previous blog post!)

Jack just loses it. He goes on his whole MY FATHER IS DEAD! Rant. Disregarding the fact that he has seen Christian on the Island. Locke helped him hunt down his White Rabbit in season 1. He knows Christian is Claire's father and all the crazy stuff going on on the Island. But denies that anything Locke is saying can be real. Locke explains that Christian told him to move the Island and how to bring them all back.

Locke said that he didn't look dead to him. Jack mentions how he put him in the coffin. We can now tie this back to last week's episode when he knows Locke was dead and going to the Island. We can only imagine what Jack is tying together in his head.

Locke says Jack is the only one that can convince the rest of them. That he is supposed to help him. Jack says It's OVER! It's done. We left and we were never important. You can still sense a hint of Jack's regret in that statement. He asks Locke to leave him and the rest of them alone. Oh boy....if that venture through his prior acquaintences doesn't make you feel alone and wanting to put an end to things....well I dunno!

Hotel Westerfield (at an undisclosed time later)I say undisclosed time because of the information provided in this scene and the size of Jack's beard! We'll discuss in more detail in the bullets.

We see Locke write the now infamous suicide note that we saw in last week's episode. Probably another reason they decided to air "316" before this episode.

We see Locke toss Widmore's RAZR phone in the Trash. (I wonder if we'll be doing another jump into the future at some point and get some iPhones on the show!)

Locke pulls out what looks like WIRE (not rope) and begins to make his noose. Cuts out some of the ceiling, hangs the wire and puts the loop around his neck. It really seems like Locke WANTS to kill himself and not because he's doing it out of fate. Just as he's about to jump off the table......KNOCK KNOCK!

Ben breaks through the door. He urges John to reconsider. Locke claims he's a failure. He couldn't get anyone to believe me. Ben talks about how important John is. How SPECIAL he is. He talks about how John has TOO MUCH WORK TO DO (a common theme in these later sesons).

He admits to killing Abbadon before he killed Locke. He goes on the whole rant that Widmore is the bad one. He's the reason he moved the Island so Locke could lead. Again, we're getting 2 stories.

He admits to watching all of the Oceanic 6 and keeping them safe. But we're not sure who has been the THREAT to the Oceanic 6.

Ben informs Locke that he DID suceed. Jack booked a plane ticket to Sydney. Whatever Locke said to him worked. Okay, so was Jack returning from Sydney in the Season 3 flash forward? He told Kate he's been flying A LOT. And he mentions a few locations and all of them were attempts to get back to the Island. And like I said...his beard was a LOT longer and Jack was a lot more drunk and much more drugged! And he reads the obituary on the plane ride back. If Locke's body was in a hotel room, I'm sure they found him pretty soon after!

Locke comes out of the noose begins to cry. Ben talks about how he hasn't talked to Sun yet. And Locke reveals that Jin is alive (BINGO! The missing piece!). He told Ben he promised not to go to Sun and would not bring her back to the Island. Ben says a promise is a promise.

Locke then explains that he knows what has to be done. He has to go talk to Eloise Hawking once he gets them all together. and BAM.....Ben looks at Locke. WHAT did you say?

Ben says he knows her. But something very shady is going on. Maybe he knows that Charles Widmore knows her. Maybe he also exiled Ellie back in the day too. But does he know that it's Daniel Faraday's mother before Desmond reveals it? Maybe he knows if Jacob or Christian who speaks for Jacob mentions Eloise Hawking, he now knows that Jacob is against Ben which means Locke is against Ben. Or maybe he now has the missing piece of information which is why he was keeping Locke alive. Or MAYBE he knows that Locke has to die based on the information provided. Lots of MAYBES!

But one thing is for sure, as many suspected, Benjamen Linus killed Jeremy Bentham (aka John Locke) with the rope (wire) in the Hotel room. (Ahhh I miss Clue. Good thing they're making a new movie!) He strangled him almost immediately after he mentioned Eloise's name. After he cleaned up the crime scene and made it look like a suicide, he must've grabbed Jin's wedding ring and left the room.

Before he left though he seemed to sincerely say "I'll miss you John. I really will." Well HUH????

I mean, now we're back to assuming Ben is the big bad guy right? But many of us believe that Ben will be redeemed when everything is said and done. That all of his actions will be for a reason. Tough to see right now. He just KILLED Matthew Abbadon AND John Locke! And he MIGHT have killed Penny. How could he possibly be good? But we still see Widmore potentially lying to Locke too. Lots of questions!

But for now, a very dramatic finish to the life of Jeremy Bentham.

Back to the Island(after Flight 316)

Locke comes into the Hydra office where Caesar is reading up on some stuff. He explains that he had been on the Island for 100 days at some time in the past. And that an organization called DHARMA used to do experimentations here.

He explains the timing of it all will confuse Caesar.

Caesar then explains some confusion of his own. On the plane, they saw a bright light and then a big curly haired guy (Hurley) and some others vanished out of nowhere. He asks Locke to explain that. Well now we know that Caesar saw the flash. Kate/Claire didn't see the flash when Sawyer witnessed Aaron's birth. Hmmm weird. But this certifiably proves that some people are in the past and some are in the present (in case people were STILL doubting!)

Locke claims to know how they got back. He asks for the manifest (which he asked Ilana for earlier. I forgot to mention!) . Caesar doesn't have it. He asks if everyone on the plane besides those that disappeared are accounted for. Caesar says yes. And everyone survived but there are some people that are hurt.

Locke walks past a few of the hurt passengers and stumbles upon BEN Last! All bloodied up (could still be from his before-island encounter). Caesar asked if Locke knew him. Locke said that he is the one who killed him.

BOOM LOST!

Whew, that is one long night and day of blogging folks! But totally worth it. Hopefully, I cleared things up as much as I confused things further! (always my goal!) I hope you enjoyed my ramblings. I think I have tons more questions, but I will save them for the comments!

If discussion on this blog isn't enough to get your LOST fix, I will be also posting the blog at lost.gather.com for a new audience. Feel free to come over and check it out there too!

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and see you next week! And NAMASTE!

As always, thanks to lost.cubit.net for always providing fantastic screenshots after each episode.

61 comments:

Im guessing that Caeser works for widmore, as he was following all the O6, he could have easily put a man on the plane in hope of it making it to the island.

Also, there were 3 canoes on the hydra island, we know that pilot dude took one to the main island, i guess we can also assume that the ijira people went to the main island at some point too, since there were two canoes when the 06 took one to run away and got shot at. What are the odds that Ben made his way onto that canoe and was shooting the 06...

Thanks Jeff. Very possible Caesar is with Widmore. And yep, Ajira people are probably the ones that take over the 815ers old camp. Good question on Ben. Would he try to mess with fate? Try to kill Locke before he even leaves the Island? And would FUTURE/PRESENT Locke be with him while he's trying to do it?

Definitely some interesting storytelling ahead...and I just can't stop thinking about how short Jack's beard was vs what it looked like when he reads Locke's obituary! lol There is clearly a passing of time between the 2 scenes! lol I'm sure of it!

Great summary Mike. Lots to digest here and we can go in so many directions. Immediate reaction is that Ben is bad, but I think that Ben had to kill Locke because Locke could not kill himself. If so, then Ben at least knows (or thinks) that Locke is special. [Since he was resurrected I assume he is.] But then why say he's going to miss him? Hmmm. That makes it look like a plain old-fashioned murder, in which case Locke is not special and won't be resurrected, right? So what are we going to get when Ben wakes up in the makeshift infirmary? Ben telling Locke he killed him because he had to, or a very surprised Ben thinking to himself "uh oh - he IS special!"

Yeah all good questions. And what about when Jack asked Ben if Locke WAS in fact dead and Ben just kinda stared at him. It's almost like Ben knows it's going to happen at that point. Even his story of Doubting Thomas the apostle leads to that theory.

Maybe when he meets with hawking, she explains to him what must be done.

It was all so crazy. There has to be a reason that at the sound of that name, Ben went bezerk! And I think it has to be more than he got the information he needed from Locke and was done with him.

For some reason that Chang scene from last year with the time-traveling rabbits is stuck in my head. Do you think there is a connection with Christian not helping Locke up when he broke his leg last episode? Would that mean they are one and the same?

Christian tied to Chang? hmmmm i dunno. I guess it could be time travel related. I guess i just first assumed it was because he was a ghost or something. But now that we know he and locke arrived to the island the same way..i just don't know!

Interesting thought on Helen, Mark. I really didn't look into it more than it just being another device that made Locke feel even more alone in the world leading to him wanting to commit suicide. But you never know!

As for Sayid...very true. We don't know where or WHEN he'll show up! lol We really didn't confirm Sun either, can only assume she's with Lapidus until we see more.

Next week looks like a heckuva episode though!

BTW, there won't be an episode on March 11th. I hate breaks between episodes, but I gotta tell you...i'm looking forward to taking a BLOGGING break! lol

This EXIT from the island and the cameras, makes me think that this is like an experiment and these O6 and Others are being experimented with. It is Widmore conducting this experiment with metaphysics and other things and at the end it was all part of the experiment and their minds were being played with. How horrible!!!!! Just kidding maybe not but the thought crossed my mind.

The other thing when Locke is taken by Abbadon to see the O6 people, it is not clear how he gets from Tunisia to St. Domingo and then back. Do we assumed they took a flight or was it like they closed their eyes and boom!!!! there they were.

Ceasar physically reminds me of Richard and Ilana of Ana Lucia. Is kind of strange these two are not surprised that LOcke tells them he was dead and was going to be buried.

I can't help but think that the name of the organization that Sayid was working with (Build a better world), sounds similar to a Dharma-ish mission statement. It is all very familiar.. remote, jungle like setting on an island and all. I wonder if the Dominican Republic has a pocket of EM energy?

No, I am not suggesting or asking about Christian tied to Change. I meant, if I am remembering the video correctly, the time-traveling rabbit couldn't touch it's other self. Wasn't Chang yelling about that? And Christian wouldn't touch Locke. I'm asking if instead of "wouldn't" maybe it was also "couldn't".

Beatriz, interesting thoughts on the whole EXIT. Remember back in the day when we thought that it was going to end up being something like THE MATRIX and everyone was in some lab somewhere being experimented on and co-existing in a dream world? Ahhh those were the days. Then the writers poked fun at this idea by having Hurley's "imaginary friend" Dave explain that the whole thing was a DREAM in Hurley's head lol

Ahh good stuff.

As for them getting to the dominican republic, Abbadon actually says that he needs a destination from Locke as they're getting close to the airport. So I think we're good there!

And I think when Locke told Ilana that he remembers dying...we see Ilana kinda look at him lie he's nuts and she walks away. So I'm not sure she was buying it. And when he told Caesar that Ben was the man that killed him...it went BOOM LOST! So we didn't get his reaction either lol More to come there!

Jenn good thought with the Build a Better World. I was thinking something similar when I saw the T-Shirts that it seemed DHARMA-related. As for Pockets of energy? you just never know! Maybe we need Faraday's notebook to find out!

Thanks Gallo! Good point about the "Angel Hardware" Ironic!

I see now horseman. I guess you're referring to the ORCHID OUTTAKES VIDEO that we saw prior to the one in the season right? I'm gonna have to watch that again to see if he mentioned something about the rabbits. But yeah, I've been assuming that Christian "COULD NOT" help Locke and it had nothing to do with him not wanting to. And yeah, it very well could be time-travel related. No idea exactly how, but we know there are RULES!

i noticed someone said locke and the ajira people are the in the present day, and as one of the people that believed that the survivors would be scattered in diff time periods i agree, but i wanted to clarify what info we're going on that confirms that?

I think you need to combine the information from the 2 previous episodes. Jack, Kate and Hurley definitely disappeared in front of everyone's eyes on the plane (confirmed by Caesar). The flash and noise made when they flashed...was the same flash/noise we heard when Locke/Sawyer and crew moved through time on the Island. So boom....jack and crew are in DHARMA past.

Meanwhile...we know at some point in the future, there are these canoes on the Island near the 815ers abandoned camp (aka...probably 3 years in the future from Oceanic 6 departure)...and we know that when our Time Leapers are in that time period, they find an Ajira water bottle in one of the boats....and when they take one of the boats...someone is following them and shooting. We also know that the OTHERS were building a runway on Hydra Island in season 3 (2004)....so theoretically it may have been built a few years later and available for Ajira 316 to land.

Good recap as always! Just wanted to say Hurley's drawing of the sphinx - could allude to the Atlantean civilization. According to Edgar Cayce - secret Atlantean documents are buried in the paw of the Sphinx. And recent archeological investigators have discovered that there is a deep chamber in the paw but have not excavated it yet. I just think the producers were alluding to it b/c acient civilizations (like original Others etc...) not sure..

Also, I agree with you that Ben has a reason for all that he does. B/c as Locke being more "alive" than Christian - was probably b/c he was killed by Ben. Whereas, Christian overdosed in his hotel room in Sydney.. so maybe he is "less alive" or ghost or whatever. But point is Jack had to think it was suicide - like his father - for the whole "proxy" thing to work... or maybe Ben lied to Eloise as well....

Just wondering was it Christian who told John about Eloise??? Completely forgot.

And you're right about Jack's beard being an indication of time, I wonder if there were events that happened inbtw that may be shown later b/c that is quite a time - what was John doing all that time??

Hey Mona, thanks for all of the agreeing! lol Good catch on the Sphinx. I was getting pretty tired when I was writing the blog, that I just had to glaze over a few things. That was one of them!

Christian is definitely the one who told Locke about Eloise.

Anyway, to follow up on a previous comment of mine about proving that our Ajira passengers are in 2 different times. Damon and Carlton's official LOST Podcast is up (you can find it at lost.abc.com or on itunes). They mentioned that it is a question we should be asking (WHEN are Locke, Lapidus, "woman" and ajira folk in relation to Jack, Kate Hurley and Jin) They said we will find out "VERY SOON" and to avoid spoilers I won't say what episode. But considering there is no episode in 2 weeks, use your own judgement! lol I still think there is enough evidence out there to prove when they all are. We just don't know where Sayid and Sun are yet officially.

other things they brought up: we should still be wondering who to trust between Widmore and Ben. Cuse brought up points that we really haven't seen Widmore do many evil things (except the shady video ben has) and we've seen Ben kill his father, abbadon and Locke. But naturally, they will not confirm anything.

they reveal the episode number that we will find out what happened to aaron. to avoid spoiling. I will post the number at the end of this post (and the name of the episode)!

i think there was more, but just go check it out yourself! I promise you they are funny podcasts! lol

Another great episode of Lost; another WOW! postiug by Mike V. Fine job!

I've given up on trying to guess which of Ben or Widmore is the good guy -- probably because it seems like neither one is. Ben we know to be a ruthless, manipulative, compulsive liar who will play or hurt anyone who gets in his way, and who seems to place his own agenda over even the island he claims to care so much about. (He knows the island wants Locke to be its savior, and he keeps trying to kill Locke.) But Widmore's explanation about Keamy and the freighter full of explosives doesn't hold water, he clearly manipulated Desmond into winding up on the island, and the version we saw in 1954 didn't seem particularly trustworthy.

Also, I thought it was a nice gesture on Locke's part to NOT ask Walt to come back, but it's kind of a frustrating one also. The narrative has now caught up with Malcolm David Kelly's growth spurt, so there's no excuse to not bring him back into the action. After all the time they spent in season one on Walt's psychic powers and his own connection to the island, it doesn't seem fair to make that another narrative dead end, and I hope he comes back again before the end of the series. Walt's story needs to be told in its entirety!

Anyone else think it was weird how the photo Widmore showed Locke in Tunisia showed Sayid in the exact position he's in when Locke reaches him in Santo Domingo? It's almost as if Widmore not only knows what the future will hold, but he knows how people will look like, where they will be, etc. in that future. Just pretty eerie to me.

Since Locke found out that Widmore used to be the Others leader, I wonder why Locke didn't ask Widmore about Jacob. I would have if I was Locke.

I agree with Walt. I mean, I know the kid isn't the greatest actor and everything, but before the show is over I think there needs to be some kind of redemption between him and his father (ghost i guess) on the Island. There also needs to be explanations of his "appearances" on the Island. Which I'm liking the "he unknowingly is appearing to them when he's dreaming" theory. But even his whole "POWER" that he had and Ben's line "we got more than we bargained for with Walt" from season 2. These things need explaining!

J.B. I wasn't even thinking about the photo of Sayid being intentional on the writers' part to show him in the same place that he is when Locke shows up. I just figured it was laziness in the filming of the scene! lol Maybe they had forgotten to take a still shot of Sayid working on the school or something else when they were filming the scenes with Locke so they had to take a still shot from what they already filmed.

I'm sure the question will come up to the producers and they'll just explain that not even THEY are perfect! Kinda like when they were showing a flashback in one of the older episodes, and they showed a 2006 dollar bill when it was 2004. They just can't catch everything!

But hey, maybe it was intentional and Widmore has pictures from the future! lol

As for Locke not asking Widmore about Jacob.....that's just the way LOST is, no one asks people ANY important questions, and when they do...the person hesitates to answer, the music gets louder and then they cut to a new scene! lol Ahhhhh the mini-frustrations to loving this show!

The carpet van that ben drives that says canton-rainier. It is a anagram for REINCARNATION.

Did anybody else notice that this episode aired on ash Wednesday which is 40 days before good friday and wait for it "42" days before easter sunday.

If Locke stoped the Island from moving through time then how are they going to get back to present time? Are jack and Cesear ever going to meet other than the plane? Where are the others in this whole future/present day thing? Maybe the reason they were shooting at the left behinders is that they thought it was the others from the island.

This thought just came to me what ever happened to ben little friend who gave him the doll maybe it is charelotte who has to leave the island!!!

The hotel name might be an anagram, I will have to go and watch it again.

I hope this season they explain more about the hyrogliphics that seem to be every where. THere were in the Hydra station after the 108 minutes are up, they are on the "temple" they are on the wall that Ben is looking at after Alex gets shot. I know they is more but anyway.

I am rambling now but when Jin was with the french crew, roussoe's(spelling is not my stong suit)boyfriend says that the smoke monster is a security system. I know somebody else said that. Does anybody know who.

Hey Jenn...I don't think we ever confirmed HOW Christian died. I know it's been so long that people are starting to think we did. We know he got really drunk (saw him with Sawyer)...and we know Jack found him in the morgue. I believe at point this season Jack says it was a heart attack (or I was watching an old episode and that was said). Bottom line, it's always been a mystery of how Christian died and I have always thought that it was a key to the story. There was a reason he was in Australia. Sure, he tried to visit Claire. But he also brought Ana Lucia with him. He ran into Sawyer. I've always thought he might have tipped off Malkin (the psychic)...he probably knew that Jack would come after him. It all just seems to tie together to Flight 815. Since John Terry (Christian) has full-time status on season 6, we may just get the crazy "ghost's" flashback story to fill in the gaps. We'll see!

Anonymous...thanks for being a long-time reader and deciding to post. Rousseau was the one in season 1 that mentioned the monster was a security system "for the Island." So now we know where she got the term. It was from Robert who was infected by the monster itself. Robert noted that it was security system "for the TEMPLE." So that's all we know for now!

As for Ben's friend. The producers have mentioned in their latest podcast that they haven't forgotten about Annie, and her story is coming (or at least an explanation of who she is!). Don't forget, we're in the DHARMA days now with at least SOME of our Oceanic crew....We're going to get some major "answerage"!! (new word!)

My theory on the coming war. It’s not a war between Ben and Widmore, but between Jacob and Christian. The clues have been subtle but there. Jacob’s first words to John were “Help me,” but help from whom? When Christian came to the island he started to take over. The next time we see Jacob’s cabin Hurley saw Christian in his suit and white shoes. Than the panicked eye of Jacob looks through the window. It’s at that point Christian replaces Jacob, not speak for him like he claims, and takes over. We don’t see Jacob again and Christian’s clothes change to a more native attire to reflect his new role in controlling the island. From this point we see Christian multiple times manipulating John, Claire, and Jack to do whatever his plans are. Christian wanted John to move the island not to save it but to exile him because John is the only one who cam help Jacob regain control of the island. And just like the good pawn, John listens to him. He will not really be able to save the island until he starts thinking for himself and stops relying on everyone to tell him what to do. The war won’t be a battle fought with guns but a faith war for the island.

I was actually thinking the war might be bigger than something we have even comprehended yet (i.e. not between Ben and Widmore). Not sure if I had shared it here yet. But, Stedman, I like where you are heading with your theory. What if Christian is lying? why did Jacob say "HELP ME?" How did he change clothes when he was still wearing the suit in the beginning of season 4? Pretty intriguing stuff!

Another great post Mr. V! As always, a great episode of Lost not only gives us some good answers to past questions but it also gives us even more questions to ponder.Some of these you have already alluded to Mike but I wanted to put them in a nice little arrangement.

**Why did Caesar hide the shotgun from Ilana?**How did Ben trick Charles Widmore into leaving the Island?**What "war" is Charles Widmore warning about?**Does Charles Widmore really want Locke to lead the Others? Does Ben?**What do Walt's dreams about Locke mean?**Why wouldn't Kate care that Sawyer (et al) will die?**Why did Jack (so quickly) purchase tickets to Sydney? Was Ben lying?**Why did Ben kill Locke? Was it connected to Locke saying he was looking for Ms. Hawking?**What happened to the Oceanic Six? Why did they "vanish" when the plane crashed?**Did Ben realize that Locke would be revived when he came back to the Island? **Is there anything special about the day or the way Helen died?

Keep up the great writing Mr.V! I know there are a ton of bloggers out there but I prefer your style to anyone else's.

I wanted to touch on one of your questions with Jack QUICKLY buying a ticket to Sydney. I'm not so sure it was as quick as we were led to believe.

In my blog (and comments since) i've been obsessing over the size of Jack's beard when he encounters locke. it's not up to CRAZY LENGTH yet...so some time must have passed between that encounter and the hotel scene. Jack also told kate he was FLYING A LOT and hoping to crash. We also need to allow time for jack to get hooked on his meds a little longer and be more drunk! Jack reads the obituary on the plane returning to Los Angeles. And Ben tells Locke at the hotel that Jack booked a flight to sydney that returns the next morning. So....some timing is off there.

I think we're meant to assume that the flight Ben is referring to is jack's flight when he reads John's obituary. I don't know how a paper would publish his death so quickly though! lol

Yeah I read your comments on Jack's beard in the blog Mike and it certainly is worth noting. Don't know if we'll ever get the answer to that.

Can you discuss in depth your thoughts on the triangular relationship of Widmore, Ben and Ms. hawking? They seem to be THE primary centerpieces of the show right now (at least until we know more about Jacob).

Widmore apparently has a lot of $$$ at his disposal and can hire at will. But what EXACTLY is his motivation in regards to the Island? Is it personally for greed, is it just to show up Ben, is it to use the Island to be able to control disease, sickness, etc?

What about Ben? Exactly who does he have on HIS side? I see nobody. What is Ben's motivation for the Island? What does Ben know that nobody else knows? What does he know about Widmore and Ms. Hawking and why is he working with Hawking?

And what can we truly make of Ms. Hawking? How much of her story do we really know? Is see a former partner/lover/wife of Widmore? Is she a DeGroot? What is her motivation and how does she know so much?

It seems that Locke, Desmond, et al are all just pawns being played in this big ol' chess game by these three manipulators.

I want to know more Mike; I need to know more. Can you help me out here?

(P.S. I know it may have been a typo on your part but name is Jonny not Johnny). Thx!

I am like everyone else here..the timeline of Locke/Bentham's death in this ep. doesn't fit with what we saw in past eps. with the length of Jack's beard and his mental condition.

Also, did anyone notice that the note Locke wrote to Jack was different in this ep (when we actually saw him writing it) than it was in "316" when Jack read it on the plane. Check the screen caps from each ep...the note says the same thing but the handwriting is different. Combine this with things like the butcher shop completely changing from the time Ben went there and talked to Jill about storing Locke's casket to when Jack went to pick it up. It is completely different...they crew can't be this sloppy in production..it had to mean something. My question is....is time skipping off-island as well? Could this explain all these discrepancies? Maybe why Kate's behavior and looks and demeanor changed so drastically from the night on the dock to the next night when she showed up in Jack's bedroom...she looked like a different person. Maybe these things will never be explained but they bug me.

Also, what was in that package that Ben had stored up in the air vent in the hotel room when he was getting Jack cleaned up? It seemed important because they purposely showed him getting it down out of there.

But what make him return to his assassin ways? The events at Hurley’s hospital and safe house where he killed three people happened after Locke’s visit. And can we assume that if he was done killing for Ben at that point that it was Ben’s people he killed at the hospital and safe house.

As for explaining all of your questions? I have no answers. Those are pretty big mysteries on the show that they are GOING to and HAVE to answer!

But now that we know Widmore has been on the Island for 30 years (if we can at least believe that THAT was true), then we have to start thinking that Penny was born on the Island too. Unless the mother left the Island and she was born there. Were Widmore and Hawking romantically involved or more of a brother sister thing? How does Daniel play into this? We know he has been on the Island less time that everyone because he never got a nosebleed. So if Eloise is Daniel's mother...who is HIS father? I think there is more to learn between the relationship between Dan, Eloise, Charles Widmore and Penny (let's throw Desmond into that mix too). But we just do not have enough information yet to make a concrete theory. We can just make some guesses with making a lot of assumptions along the way.

What we do know is Ben was born off of the Island and came there when he was 12. He started talking to Richard at a very young age (you know...when they start evaluating their leaders). Richard told Ben it wasn't time for him to leave the DHARMA crew yet. But what about in the days that we're about to see with Jack, Hurley and crew? Widmore should be the leader of the Others at this time and Ben might be WORKING for the Others undercover as part of DHARMA. (we know he was with DHARMA still when the purge happened. He killed his father wearing DHARMA gear). And we know when the Purge happens, that BEN becomes the leader of the others which is 12 years before Oceanic 815 crashes. We don't know exactly how long after 1954 Widmore becomes the leader so we can't determine WHEN he was exiled. But perhaps it was right around the time of the Purge?

So my thoughts? Jumbled and confusing. Sorry about that but you asked! lol So here's my final answer. ALL ANSWERS LIE IN THE MYSTERY OF THE 4 TOED STATUE! lol (definitely a joke...but at least we should be getting an answer to that in the next few months!)

Whew, Anonymous....I hate to say it, but I think what you're looking at is minor differences in the production from one episode to the next. I just don't think they'd ask us to analyze 2 letters that say the same exact thing and determine if they're different! With the butcher shop...i didn't notice that either, but these just seem relatively minor in the scheme of things with the show.

One question someone posed to me though is....how did Hawking get the suicide note? Did Ben take it from Locke's back pocket and give it to her? Obviously the police didn't get it or they would've given it to jack Shephard (i would think). I had just assumed Ben took it. But then you have to wonder if Ben knew about it already on the Plane when Jack was talking about it. Ben was all bitter that Jack got to have a private meeting with Hawking....and this is when she gave him the letter. What exactly was Hawking keeping from Ben?

yikes..

Stedman - Sayid makes a comment like "I'm not taking any chances since Bentham died" right? So he must've gotten wind that he died and then knew that people were in trouble. But good question on if it's Ben's cronies, Widmore's or someone elses all together!

THE 4 TOED STATUE actually has meaning too!!! When LOCKE tried to hang himself there is a close up of his injured leg and it "looks like"he has 4 toes. Somehow this also ties in with the SPHYNX that Hurley was drawing. I don't know where thisis going but I do know it will problaby has some meaning inthe future

OK, Mike. I give in to the fact that the note being different might be a production error. But why would the butcher shop be totally different? It goes from having one door and looking kind of old and just saying "Butcher Shop" on the window to being much newer looking, having double front doors with the name "Simon's Butcher Shop" printed on the door. What gives?

I just have no good answer on the butcher shop thing! You're right, it makes no sense that the production level would be THAT different. But I just can't imagine that there will be anything in the show that will explain why it changed so much from one episode to another lol

In a show that's as confusing enough to follow as it is, I just think they were probably hoping no one would notice this! But hey, I could be wrong. That could have been a little easter egg dropped that they can reference when the show is all over and say that hints were there explaining their overall mastermindedness all along! lol

Thx for your comments Mike. Since Widmore supposedly knows about the exit points can we assume that he himself was "exited" there as well?

Your previous point about the camera being there is critical IMHO. If Widmore placed a camera there (and I think we all believe he did), why was it apparently NOT there when Ben exited? Also, who else has Widmore seen exit the Island?

Also, remember when Friendly had the conversation with Michael in the alley in New York? Didn't he tell Michael that he could come and go as he pleased? My memory is fading here, so please help. If so, then I think we can conclude that maybe gay ol' Tom was working for Widmore not Ben but I could be totally messed up with that theory.

I'm of the persuasion that only those that actually moved the donkey wheel would be disposed to and thru Tunisia. As far as we know, Tom certainly didn't move the wheel, Richard didn't and we know the Oceanic 6 didn't. So is there any significant theories on why Tunisia is the exit point of those that do move the wheel?

Widmore knows how to get off the Island (and so does Ben & Locke) but why doesn't anybody know how to get there in the first place?

Jonny...I think Widmore told Locke that he was "EXILED" and that he was tricked into turning the wheel by Ben. So yes he has indeed EXITED there. So there's your answer for that.

I have the same question on Tom and Richard and Ethan and how they have come and gone from the Island. Best I can come up with is that they are the NATIVES (pre-dharma people) on the Island that are "priveleged" (richard's words) to the information of how to come and go from the Island. I think turning the Wheel has a "SIDE EFFECT" of booting you from the Island or something like that. I mean, they "SAY" that they've used the submarine before to come and go. But at the same time we've never seen it in use. We saw Juliet drink Orange juice with a drug that knocked her out and she WOKE UP on the submarine already at the island. And she was strapped in really good. They mention that the final approach or something is REALLY BUMPY or something like that. And Richard made a comment like she is going to WANT to be out cold for her trip.

as for how to get BACK to the Island...well we know the Island is always moving. But I still think that at some point the island was NOT moving....which is why the wheel was frozen and ben had to chip away at and push to get it moving again. And the only thing that I can think that would make the island STOP moving? would possibly be when Desmond blew the Hatch and the sky went purple and the Island became visible briefly. allowing the freighter to come to the Island and find it. once ben turns the wheel? island resumes moving. At least that's my theory for now! lol

There have been other large set changes as well. Off the top of my head when Miles goes to the ladies house to talk to her son the picture frames along the stairs are large wooden frames but when he comes down the stairs their small metal frames. They gave us good shots of the frames coming and going, were they trying to tell us something, don’t know, but their fun to look for.

Hey Mike, just what is it about vehicle accidents on Lost? Consider this:

-Michael was hit by a car (the elusive Golden Pontiac) in NYC and broke his leg.~Locke was hit by a car in a parking lot while chasing his mother.~Juliet’s husband was run over by a bus.~Kate’s childhood sweetheart Tom was killed in a shoot-out car crash.~Hurley crashes his Camaro during a police chase.~Claire and her mother were in a car crash (it put her mom in a coma for five years).~Shannon’s father Adam Rutherford was killed in the same car accident that paralyzed Jack’s wife Sarah.~When Jack attempts suicide on the bridge (prompted by seeing Locke’s obituary), there is a car crash which stops him from jumping.~Michael crashed his car on the docks in a failed suicide attempt.~Locke’s father Anthony Cooper was in a car crash in Tallahassee right before he mysteriously turned up on the island.~Kate was in an accident with the marshal, which led to her escape, after a black horse ran onto the road…Kate saw a black horse on the island (along with Sawyer’s boar).~Martha Toomey lost her leg in a car accident; her husband Sam Toomey (Hurley’s fellow cursed lottery winner) committed suicide.

I may have missed one here and there but obviously, the producers have some sort of infatuation going here don't they?

~Locke says he “fell down a hole” which can use as a reference to the story of Alice in Wonderland.~The revelation of Locke in the coffin was introduced in an episode called “Through the Looking Glass.”~A rabbit is the logo of the Dharma station called “The Looking Glass.”~Rabbits are a symbol for fertility and we know the island has fertility issues.~There also was a Jack-centric episode called “White Rabbit.”~There was a rabbit in the hatch and a rabbit in Sawyer’s cage with the #8 painted on it.~In the “Orientation” films, Dr. Marvin Candle holds a rabbit with #15 painted on it.~Sawyer was reading “Watership Down,” starring rabbits.~There was a white rabbit in the magic show at the old folks’ home where gramps was trying to escape from.~Ben had a white rabbit as a child.

Most of the rabbit things can be tied back to the White Rabbit which is an ongoing reference to Alice in Wonderland (which Jack reads to aaron in his season 4 flash forward). Through the Looking Glass I believe was a sequel novel to Alice in Wonderland as well. So I'm sure that has a lot to do with their love of bunnies! I know branding the bunnies with numbers is a reference to another movie that i can't think of right now.

The car accidents yes...they sure do love them!

While we're on the subject...they also love their Wizard of Oz references!

of course, it's easy to see that the land of OZ and Wonderland can be tied to a lot of the crazy things happening on that crazy Island!

Nice entry!What's keeping me occupied is the 'war' between Ben and Widmore.How ironic is it, that they seem to want the same thing, for Locke to go back to the island and save it. Which one of them, if any, is bad, or could they possibly both be bad?

Young Walt is not so young anymore! Nice to see him included.Also, I liked the reference to Helen, which I was waiting for for a very long time. Too bad she's bad though.

After two weeks of Oceanic Six and off-island people, can we please see Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Daniel and Miles again? And what about Desmond?? I want to know Penny's still alive!

My biggest question is why wasn't ANYONE surprised to see Locke? They'd all left him on the island but it didn't phase them at all that he was visiting them. No questions about how he got off the island or who's still alive. So why?

Nice blog Mike V. And great comments by everyone. I have one question. Is there a reason why Ben isn't in jail somewhere in the world??? He is a mass murderer, after all, and he has admitted it as such.

We know he gassed his own father to death. How many did he exterminate in the Purge? How many times can he kill Locke? He admits to killing Abaddon. He attempted to kill Ana Lucia. I believe he attempted to kill Charlotte. He has confessed to his desire to kill Penny.

Is his middle name Dexter?

Seriously, I don't know why Ben is even allowed to be a part of society. When it comes to Ben, it seems he gets a free pass to do whatever he wants to whomever he wants.

Don't know if this was covered lower in the comments because I didn't read through them all (a good chunk, but I can't justify all the time it would spend to read 50 comments)... It would seem that Ben is not trying to thwart Locke, because Ben goes to so much trouble taking care of Locke's body and making sure that Jack brings him onto the plane. I don't recall Locke saying anything to Jack about Locke needing to get back to the island himself in order to make things work. So Ben could have let Locke be buried and be done with him - that is, unless he wanted Locke to be resurrected and fulfill his mission.

I think there's a whole piece of the puzzle we're still missing here and that is Ben's ties to Eloise Hawking. Did he know to go to Hawking before Locke said it in the hotel room? He knew ABOUT Hawking but may not have known that he had to talk to her. Or maybe (i may have mentioned this in the blog not sure)...we know the last time Ben tried to kill Locke it was because he heard Jacob. So now Ben knows that "SOMEONE" told Locke to talk to Hawking. So once again Ben knows that Locke "IS" perhaps special.

I think I'm rambling again. My point is that Ben may not have known until he talked to hawking that they'd need Locke's body to create a proxy. For all we know...it didn't even HAVE to be Locke that "filled those shoes" (no pun intended).

On another note, this could be also how Richard knows that Locke has to die...not to fulfill some christian/island prophecy or method of getting back to the Island...but merely because re-born Locke told Richard in the future (but prior to when he fixes Locke's leg) that he died but is back on the Island and alive. Clearly, Richard was not an expert in 1954 on the time traveling aspects of the Island.

Yep...I clearly rambled again until I have no idea what I'm talking about! But those are my jumbled thoughts at the moment! lol

MIke, Can you rehash a bit on your thoughts on why Jack was the only one at Locke's, er, Jeremy Bentham's funeral viewing? Seems that now we know Locke has tried to convince everybody (sans Sun) to come back to the island, they'd all be at least a little bit intrigued to see his dead corpse. WOuldn't you think so?

I dunno Bryan, Hurley looked like he wanted nothing to do with Locke. Sayid seemed alarmed by "bentham's" death but I could see him not attending the funeral. Kate pretty much told locke off and even asked Jack "why would I go to the funeral?" Ben didn't attend at first well because he killed him! But later he went to collect the body...and recruit jack.

Sun?...well sun was never visited.

Based on what we learned last week...Jack was the only one that Locke "convinced" which is the most ironic part about it!

Funny stuff with Lapidus, anonymous! I'm a big fan of the character too. So glad he's back on Island!

Hey, Mike! Love the blog! I'm new here, but definitley an addict. I've been keeping up with the site everyday and, like many others, it keeps me going til Wednesdays!

I had a question. Do you, or does anyone remember the episode where Christian visits Jack at the hospital in a flash forward? Do you remember if Jack mentions that Locke told him he saw him on the island before he left? I'm sure he didn't but I just can't remember what was said between them and I'm sure it was important. Do you remember?

Thanks for the compliments Jane. Glad you're getting your LOST fix here between each episode!

Yeah Christian visists Locke in season 4's "Something Nice Back Home" episode. This takes place PRIOR to Locke arriving in Tunisia (i.e. off island). And Jack never talks to his Ghost Dad. He sees him but gets interrupted by a collegue who signs off on the drugs that will eventually lead to his downward spiral!

It seems like every episode from the 3rd one on this season has just gotten better and better, culminating (so far) in the 7th ep about Jeremy Bentham. As a big Locke fan, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him begin to fulfill whatever destiny has in store for him, even if he has to die in the present day to make it happen.

This ep did start kind of slowly as it worked it's way up to a breakneck pace. (Haha, "break neck"! Get it?) Locke went all around the world trying to convince the Oceanic 5 to go back to the island, but his unconvincing and strident appeals fell on deaf ears. But then, just as Locke is gonna hang himself, Ben tells him Jack actually booked a flight to Sydney, so Locke wasn't really a failure! At least not until he mentions Eloise Hawking!

After Ben strangles Locke, when he's leaving the hotel room he turns to tell the hanging corpse, "I'll miss you John. I really will," yet he already knows he's going to see Locke again on the island. I think what Ben meant was, he was really going to miss Locke in the present day, because he knows that he'll be returning to the present day several times in the future. Perhaps he'll even be banished from the island forever by the series finale (I DON'T think he knows that, however). But we can easily imagine that Ben will miss sparring with Locke when all he has left is his memories!

Dead ISN'T Dead: When it comes to the present day, it seems clear dead is dead. But when it comes to the island, which by now includes time traveling like it includes mangoes, dead is definitely not dead unless the death took place on the island. Which seems to make it a place that operates kind of like heaven. The kind of heaven that moves around a lot.

Confusion for Dummies: Once again, the whirling dervish of timelines and life chronologies and intersecting relationships the show is now juggling have me just short of a straightjacket. Like I said before, I can't keep up with this stuff myself so I count on Mike to make sense of it and then I just let the next episode spill its newest secrets upon me and pretend not to be confused. So far it must be working because I'm having a great time!

Oh Miles, if only you knew what I know! There's no way I'm going to spoil it for you though. lol

L&D of Jeremy Bentham is a fantastic episode. And, once again, I stress this stuff only improves on rewatch. The time travel stuff is getting you theorizing, and that's exactly what the intent of this season was. But, I cannot validate nor distinguish any of your theories! But, the whole talking out of suicide only to kill him was just a brilliant scene. 2 class act actors giving it their all.

As for Ben and his knowledge of seeing Locke on the island again? Well, I don't know about you, but Ben looked pretty damn shocked when he saw John Locke standing before him (or sitting). Granted, Ben lies so much, you never know when he's telling the truth. But, eventually you'll know what's the truth from fiction.

Season 5 was by far the most confusing. And this blog came in very helpful for everyone, including myself. We all made sense of it together. But, we had endless debates about time travel and how it applies on LOST. People constantly got tripped up from other time travel stories and how it should play out the same in LOST. But the LOST team made it very clear in the show and out of the show the rules of time travel on LOST. But still...that doesn't mean they don't try to play around with those rules. It made for some awesome television! And some big soapbox speeches from yours truly.

I envy you watching it for the first time. But, I think you'll have to admit even yourself that you will want to rewatch it when all is said and done. That will become clear to you! Enjoy!